Dear Common Dreams Readers: Common Dreams is a small non-profit that exists only because of the support of our readers. No advertising; no paywalls: our content is free. But our costs are real. A free and independent press is essential to the health of a functioning democracy. Independent journalism and democracy itself have never been more fragile, more at risk than now. Without your support, we will not exist. Will you join again with those readers who have come forward to make sure Common Dreams has a future?Every donation makes a difference.

An Open Letter to Congress From US Scientists on Climate Change and Recently Stolen Emails

An Open Letter to Congress From US Scientists on Climate Change and Recently Stolen Emails

by

Climate Experts

As U.S. scientists with substantial expertise on climate change and its impacts on natural
ecosystems, our built environment and human well-being, we want to assure policy makers and
the public of the integrity of the underlying scientific research and the need for urgent action to
reduce heat-trapping emissions. In the last few weeks, opponents of taking action on climate
change have misrepresented both the content and the significance of stolen emails to obscure
public understanding of climate science and the scientific process.

We would like to set the record straight.

The body of evidence that human activity is the dominant cause of global warming is
overwhelming. The content of the stolen emails has no impact whatsoever on our overall
understanding that human activity is driving dangerous levels of global warming. The scientific
process depends on open access to methodology, data, and a rigorous peer-review process.
The robust exchange of ideas in the peer-reviewed literature regarding climate science is
evidence of the high degree of integrity in this process.

As the recent letter to Congress from 18 leading U.S. scientific organizations, including the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, and the
American Meteorological Society, states:

“Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is
occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse
gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver. These conclusions are
based on multiple independent lines of evidence, and contrary assertions are
inconsistent with an objective assessment of the vast body of peer-reviewed
science. … If we are to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change,
emissions of greenhouse gases must be dramatically reduced.”

These “multiple independent lines of evidence” are drawn from numerous public and private
research centers all across the United States and beyond, including several independent
analyses of surface temperature data. Even without including analyses from the UK research
center from which the emails were stolen, the body of evidence underlying our understanding
of human-caused global warming remains robust.

We urge you to take account of this as you make decisions on climate policy.

^ = Member of National Academy of Sciences
Institutional affiliation for identification purposes only

Signed:

David Archer, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of the Geophysical Sciences
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL

William C. Clark, Ph.D.^ Harvey Brooks Professor of International
Science, Public Policy, and Human
Development
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

Michael Oppenheimer, Ph.D.
Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences
and International Affairs
Department of Geosciences and Woodrow
Wilson School of Public and International
Affairs
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ

Further

In the vile wake of Charlottesville - those sweaty young white men, pasty faces contorted, screaming, "Blood and Soil!" "Jews Will Not Replace Us!" "Fuck You Faggots!" - what to say? Just this: This is racism, domestic terrorism, pure hate. This is not who we are, and this is not ok. Most vital, those "whose pigmentation matches theirs" must speak "with unflinching clarity (or) we simply amen it... They need white faces speaking directly into their white faces, loudly on behalf of love."

Common Dreams brings you the news that matters.

Sign up for Newsletter

Connect With Us

X

Your Support Makes A Difference: Over 90% of the Common Dreams budget comes from reader support. We rely on you. Will you join again with those readers who have come forward to make sure Common Dreams has a future? We can't do it without you.